Looking back on 2018

At the end of the year I usually look back at what's happened, but with the New Zealand holiday in the last weeks of December I didn't get around to that. So let's do it now...
A new year in yet another new house, in a new city, and most importantly: with a new family member - our beloved Barney, surely the best thing that happened to us in 2018!
Apart from that it wasn't the best year for us: my oldest son tore his ACL at the National Gymnastics Championships, had knee surgery, and is still not able to do gymnastics - although he can run again and joins us for parkrun most Saturdays. My middle son broke his left wrist (for the second time); a bad break that required surgery too. It has healed well, but he will need another operation this year to remove some hardware from the arm. And last but not least, I had to go to the Netherlands urgently in November to deal with a family health crisis.
But there were good things as well: my youngest son found a new dance school and a lovely partner, and together they danced  and danced, in the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, and brought home lots of medals and trophies. We can't wait to see what 2019 will bring for them!



My husband is happy in his new position, the kids have made new friends, and I have found a part time job that I love. We are happy in the house we currently live in, though we may look into buying a house of our own this year.
Looking back at my creative endeavours in 2018, I thought that for the first time in at least 15 years I didn't quilt or sew anything, and was quite surprised - but then I remembered that I made covers for our new dining table set. But that really was the only time I used my sewing machine this year...



I signed up for a pottery class, something I have been wanting to try for a long time. I enjoyed it and made a few nice pieces, but was happy to leave it at that.



Crochet was what I did most last year, and what I will continue to do this year. Here is a collage of my finished projects:



There's one project missing: a cushion that I designed myself. I still have to write down the pattern - once that is done I will show it here on the blog.
I also have to finish this Lone Star blanket. I started and worked on it very enthousiastically in the first half of 2018, and then forgot all about it when I discovered amigurumi...



The other thing I did a lot of in 2018 was running. Here is a collage of my running highlights:



In 2018:
- I ran 30 parkruns at 14 different locations in 2 countries, and volunteered 8 times, for a total of 40 parkruns and 9 times volunteering;
- I ran my first events: the Gold Run (5 km) at the Commonweatlh Games, the Gold Coast Airport Fun Run (5.7 km), and the Bridge to Brisbane (10 km);
- I ran my furthest distance so far (11 km);
- I brought my 5 km personal best down from 34:39 in 2017 to 31:45.

Aims for 2019:
- Complete 50 parkruns and 25 times volunteering;
- Run my first half marathon (at the Gold Coast Marathon Festival in July);
- Bring my 5 km time down to sub-30 minutes...

Something else that I did in 2018 was singing. I joined a local choir in September and very much enjoyed the rehearsals and the Christmas concert we did at the Gold Coast Airport in December. Looking forward to more singing in 2019!



And of course a big highlight in 2018 was our holiday in New Zealand - I've shared some pics of that in the previous posting. Here is another one of Hobbiton (more on my photo blog):



For this year, a family holiday in the Netherlands is planned for Christmas - it will be 2.5 years then since all of us were there.

Although this quilting blog has morphed into a crochet and running blog, I hope you will continue to follow my adventures in 2019!